Griz host exhibition vs. Cal State Bakersfield - University of Montana Athletics

Montana hoops fans will get their first chance to see the Grizzly men in action this Saturday night when they host an exhibition against Cal State Bakersfield at 7:00 p.m. inside Dahlberg Arena.

The game will not be streamed, but the "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran will broadcast the game on KGVO and the Varsity Network app. Parking on Saturday night will be free and any fan that purchased a season-long parking pass can pick it up at a table in the lobby of the Adams Center.

It will be the public debut for a new-look Montana team as head coach Travis DeCuire, now in his 13^th season at his alma mater, brings in 10 newcomers to a team that reached the Big Sky title game for the third consecutive season in 2025-26.

The history of success for DeCuire and the Montana program is no secret as the Grizzlies have made it to the title game seven times in his first 12 seasons, but they will look to replicate that in 2025-27 with a solid core of returners and a fresh batch of faces.

The new group has already competed in closed door scrimmages but will play in front of fans for the first, and only, time this preseason on Saturday night before kicking things off for real on Nov. 2 at Oregon.

The early scrimmages have been helpful as DeCuire and his staff work to fit all the new pieces into the puzzle.

"With three opportunities to compete against like opponents, whether it's closed door or exhibition, that's a great change because you start sooner," DeCuire said. "We're a week ahead in terms of competition, I don't know if that's good or bad yet, we will find out, but our guys are going to be very excited to play in front of fans and have the lights come on a little bit. I'm looking forward to it."

Kenyon Aguino and Tyler Thompson highlight the returners for Montana. Aguino set a freshman record at UM for starts at 34 while Thompson was one behind him at 33 and would have shared the record if not for a minor injury.

The duo also rank fifth and eighth in freshman scoring at Montana with Aguino scoring 287 points last year and Thompson, who broke the program freshman record for made threes at 69, scoring 276 points.

They will look to make another leap with increased responsibilities and expectations in 2026-27.

"It's gotten to a point where guys that have played for you for one season and returned is almost as good as it gets," DeCuire said. "We're fortunate that the values that motivate guys like Kenyon Aguino and Tyler Thompson played in our favor as we built this year's roster. We're excited to see how that works out for us."

Connor Dick is the most experienced player on Montana's roster as the senior from Missoula is in his fourth season inside Dahlberg Arena. Amari Jedkins returns for his third year with the Griz while Courtney Anderson Jr. is back healthy after playing in just 10 games last season.

The Grizzlies will also bring in seven transfers and three true freshmen. While some of Montana's primary returners may be young, the newcomers include a large group of veteran players.

Montana will have seven seniors on its roster in 2026-27 with four of them playing their first collegiate season with the Grizzlies. Jalen Brown, a D-II All-American last year, and Josiah Sanders both come from Cal State Dominguez Hills where they found success during their junior years.

Jordan Clark scored 1,114 points in three seasons at Central Washington, starting 85 games and shooiting over 40 percent from the three-point line. Garret Dutro has made multiple stops in his career, most recently at Sierra College near Sacramento.

"When you go into the transfer portal, the first thing you're looking for is experience," DeCuire said. "The second thing is individuals that provide skill sets in areas where you may have voids on either side of the ball. We addressed that. The hard part for us is that we couldn't afford D-I transfers that had playing experience."

Montana will also add junior LoLo Rudolph. The guard spent last season at Hutchinson CC after beginning his career with Cal State Fullerton.

There are plenty of players making the jump to D-I from the lower level. There may be a learning curve for some, but DeCuire has firsthand experience with that move paying dividends.

"With guys moving up, sometimes the adjustment takes a little longer. When you look at our 2024-25 season, Kai Johnson was an example of someone that played a lot better in March than he did in November," DeCuire said. "Hopefully we can expedite that transition for our D-II guys, but we're excited about the group that we have."

Sophomores Noah Bendinger and Clayton Mpiana (pronounced: pee-ah-nuh) are the only two transfers coming from the D-I level. Bendinger (Boise State) and Mpiana (Pacific) both redshirted their freshman seasons.

There will be big shoes to fill at Montana after Money Williams transferred to Boston College this offseason. Williams had one of the highest usage rates in the country last year as he put together a top 10 season in program history for both points (699) and assists (160).

It will be an adjustment, but it will be similar to what Montana had to do last year as they adjusted to having such a ball dominant guard. The 2024-25 championship team had six players average at least nine points per game. Last year that number was down to three.

DeCuire has found success regardless of the system.

"It's hard. Whether you're losing a guy that did as much as he did, or you're adding a guy that does that much coming off of a year with balance, the change is always going to be hard," DeCuire said. "The strength of our team in 2024-25 was our balance, our depth. But we've had years where we've hung banners where we were dominated by two guys, like 2014-15 with Jordan Gregory and Martin Breunig. You can win either way, but I think what's important is that the pieces have to fit."

The early signs are that the pieces they brought in around Aguino and Thompson fit well with the what the Grizzlies already have established, but it's still early. Games like Saturday's exhibition will go a long way to show the staff what adjustments will need to be made throughout the season.

The guard play should again be at a high level. Brown and Clark both bring 1,000-point resumes to Missoula from the lower levels. Rudolph is an excellent ball handler more in the mold of a Brandon Whitney. Haggins and Carter could both see action as true freshmen.

The wings should be strong as well with Thompson returning to lead the way. Garret Dutro has impressed in his time in Missoula, Noah Bendinger is able to stretch the floor, and Dick looks poised to make a jump this year.

At the post, Aguino should pair well with the size and strength of Mpiana. At 6-9, 230 pounds, Mpiana has a unique skillset and build for a DeCuire-coached team. The last player that was at least 6-9, 230 was Dischon Thomas, who was more of an offensive threat.

Amari Jedkins brings two years of experience at Montana to the position and Josiah Sanders has an All-Conference resume from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

"I think we have a chance to have good balance, but you still have to have All-Conference players," DeCuire said. "The years where we've had good balance, 17-18, 18-19, 24-25, we've had at least one First Team All-Conference player, but we had two or three guys that were worthy or talented enough to be First Team players but didn't produce enough because of the balance. That is still to be determined with this group."

They will have just over a week from the final exhibition until the first game of the regular season. It's a difficult schedule with three trips to power four opponents in addition to road games at Utah State and San Francisco. The first seven D-I games of the year will all be on the road as Montana doesn't host a D-I school until Dec. 8 with South Dakota.

They play five teams that were .500 or better last season and the average preseason KenPom ranking for the non-conference opponents is 151. They have four games against top 100 schools.

"The schedule has gotten a lot more difficult for us as we've started scheduling games earlier, it still takes us longer to finalize the schedule," DeCuire said. "The NET plays a role in seeding and at-large bids, and that's made it more difficult for teams that fall between 100 and 150 in the NET. You don't get to really blow those teams out the way you would like to to increase your NET score, there's a lot of preparation that might not be worth it, and there's more risk than value. Teams like us are going to be last on the list."

It may lead to growing pains early for Montana, but it also presents plenty of opportunities for upsets and memorable moments for the program. The schedule also brings the Grizzlies to California on multiple occasions, providing homecoming opportunities to several players.

The road trips and the matchups against big-name programs can be a positive for DeCuire and the Grizzlies.

"At the end of the day, it's been a recruiting tool for us because our guys look forward to opportunities to play against good teams, storied programs, and I always look forward to the challenges," DeCuire said. "It will be another fun preparation in non-conference. Obviously, how you perform determines whether you enjoy the moment or not, but we look forward to it."

It's a new-look team and it will also be a new-look staff as former associate head coach Chris Cobb, who spent 12 years with DeCuire, left to take a job at Saint Mary's. Longtime assistant Jay Flores also departed in the offseason to UC Davis.

There will be plenty of fresh faces on the bench for the Grizzlies, but DeCuire is still the steady hand guiding the ship. The winningest coach in program history has liked what he has seen from his team so far this fall and can't wait to tip the ball up on Saturday.

"We think the biggest thing is that these guys want to have a good basketball team," DeCuire said. "They want to play together. They want to be cohesive, and they want to be coached. That's more than half the battle these days."

Fans can get into Saturday's exhibition for as little as $5 in general admission seating.

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Players Mentioned

Kenyon Aguino

Courtney Anderson Jr.

Noah Bendinger

Jalen Brown

Jordan Clark

Connor Dick

Garret Dutro

Amari Jedkins

Clayton Mpiana

LoLo Rudolph

Josiah Sanders

Tyler Thompson

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics